CNBC Prime Gets Mixed Ratings Results

CNBC’s debut Tuesday into primetime reality shows had its ratings ups and downs with Treasure Detectives and The Car Chasers. The newly minted CNBC Prime premiered both shows this week to kick off the business network’s long planned evening rebrand. Debuting at 9 PM, the antiquities authenticating Treasure Detectives pulled in 279,000 total viewers and 62,000 in the Adults 25-54 demographic on the channel. That’s a jump from the 195,000 total viewers and 49,000 in the demo that watched the 60 Minutes repeat that sat in the slot last week. However, Car Chasers did not fare as well. The series, which follows classic car dealers Jeff Allen and Perry Barndt as buying and selling exotic vehicles around the country, fell double digits from the encore episode of American Greed that aired at 10 PM on February 26. Earning 210,000 total viewers and 64,000 among the 25-54, Car Chasers was down 25% in audience and 22% in the demo from what the true crime series got the week before. Even with a repeat last week, it was a hard slot to fill on a network primarily previously focused on its daytime programming. Since debuting in 2007, American Greed has been CNBC’s second most popular show overall in terms of viewership and number one in terms of the demo. The show’s seventh season debuted on February 21. Earlier this year at the TCA, network president and CEO Mark Hoffman described Treasure Detectives and The Car Chasers as meeting participants at “the intersection of fear and greed” in the new entertainment focus of CNBC in primetime. The two new shows are the first of several evening reality shows that CNBC plans to roll out in the coming weeks to beef up its primetime slots.